What Configuration Can Trigger Pro-Environmental Policy Agenda Setting in an Uncertain Social Context: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis Based on the Multiple Streams Framework

Abstract This study examines the configuration of conditions that trigger pro-environmental policy agenda setting (PAS) in an uncertain social context. It discusses the suitability and explanatory power of Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) in this context. It employs the MSF and implements a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis on 25 pro-environmental cases in China. The results indicate that the seven solutions that could be recombined into three successful driven patterns may trigger the establishment of China’s pro-environmental policy agenda. China’s pro-environmental PAS does not require the complete collection of conditions for all three streams.